Local thinclads excel at Lions Invite

Several area track and field programs made the trip to Havre Monday, and like always, some of the Hi-Line’s best put up some pretty solid numbers.

The annual Lions Havre Invite track meet was postponed from Saturday to Monday. And a good amount of the top finishes came from five Hi-Line squads, as there were no signs of harsh winter weather on a sunny afternoon at the Havre Middle School track in Havre.

In girls action, the North Star Knights took third with 110, followed by the Chinook Sugarbeeters with 98, the Harlem Wildcats with 14, the Turner Tornadoes with eight, and the Box Elder Bears with two. And on the boys side of things, the Bears finished in a strong second place with 83, followed by the Knights with 65, the Beeters with 59, the Wildcats with 43, and the Tornadoes with 29.

And the individual titles and top finishes came in bunches from these local teams.

Kailey Kleinjan of Chinook won the 200 meters with a time of 28.10, while teammate Britney Nelson won the discus with a throw of 110-0. Chinook’s Makhayla Farmer also won the javelin with a throw of 102-3, while Hannah Weber took second in the 3,200 (14:37.00), and Britney Nelson took second in the shot put (33-1) and second in the javelin (102-1) for the Beeters.

North Star’s Bettie Carlon also stood out with a No. 1 finish in the long jump, leaping 15-9, as well as with a No. 1 finish in the triple jump, clearing more than 34-9. But Carlon wasn’t through, as she also cleared 5-0 in the high jump, good enough for another No. 1 finish, and ran a 13.39 for a second-place finish in the 100-meter dash. Also for the Knights, Delainey Spicher took second in the 100 hurdles (17.70), Tylynn Rettig took second in the 200 (28.33) and second in the pole vault (8-0).

Both North Star and Chinook also got a handful of other top finishes.

North Star got points from Kristyn Lavery in the 1,600, Rettig, Mackenzie Hansen and Sheridan Spicher in the 100, Delainey Spicher in the 300 hurdles, Lavery in the 800, Hansen in the 200 and Whitney Wendland in the javelin.

And Chinook got points from Taylor Neibauer in the 100 and 300 hurdles, Brooke Elliot in the 1,600, Kleinjan in the 100, Katelyn Neibauer in the 200, Tavin Schneider in the discus and shot put, Farmer in the discus, shot put and high jump, Emily Dennis in the triple jump and Summer Edwards in the javelin. Both 4x100 teams also placed, as did the North Star 4x400.

Ella Billmayer was able to earn a second-place finish in the 1,600 (6:04.00) for the Tornadoes, and Jaidyn Bishop was able to take second in the 400 (1:17.60) for the Thunderbirds. Anita Bentley also took third in the 400 (1:20.30) for the Thunderbirds, while Alicia Wolf Chief took third in the triple jump (26-1) and Tyrah Gopher took sixth in the shot put (27-11) for the Bears.

Quinn Spinler grabbed a No. 1 finish for the North Star boys in the 110 hurdles (17.89), while Cooper Spicher also finished first in the triple jump (41-1) and first in the long jump (20-3). Matt Helmbrecht took second in the javelin (152-7), while Jaxon Simonson took second in the shot put (40-0) and third in the discus (112-0). Spinler took third in the pole vault (10-0) and sixth in the 800, while Sam Ulmen took sixth in the 400, fifth in the high jump, and fifth in the long jump.

Box Elder got the majority of its point from some very talented distance runners.

Will Ketchum took first in the 1,600 with a time of 4:51.20, first in the 400 with a time of 53.76, and first in the 3,200 with a time of 11:07.00, and first in the 800 with a time of 2:12.00. Brandon The Boy also took third in the 1,600, fifth in the 800 and second in the 3,200 with a time of 11:10.00. Shane Ketchum took fourth in the 3,200, third in the 800, and sixth in the 1,600. He also took sixth in the discus, while Jerrod Four Colors took third in the high jump (5-4), Talon Jones took sixth in the 200 and fifth in the 100.

Cody McCracken won the 300 hurdles for Chinook with a time of 50.52, but also scored points in the 110 hurdles with a second-place finish. Kyler Johnson finished second in the 1,600 (4:58.00), while Travis Roth took second in the 800 (2:13.00). Tanner Gomke (shot put), Jesse Dannels (triple jump), Kyler Johnson (800), Gavin Gunderson (400), and Roth (1,600) also scored points for the Beeters.

Turner’s big points came from Bret VanValkenburg running a 57.09 for a No. 2 finish in the 400 and two No. 3 finishes by Lucas Reed. Reed jumped 17-7 in the long jump, and 38-2 in the triple jump. Tyler Humphreys also placed in the 300 hurdles, while VanValkenburg placed in the 200.

But Harlem also had some top finishers, including a second-place finish by Damon Adams in the 200 (24.71), and a second-place finish by Tristin Gone in the triple jump (39-11). The Wildcats also got great performances from Tyus Hammett in the 110 hurdles and 300 hurdles with a pair of third-place finishes. Harlem also got points by Hammett in the high jump, Jasper Lewis in the 400, Deion Hammett in the javelin and Damon Adams in the 100.

Due to Monday's meet being moved from Saturday, today's triangular between Havre, Chinook and North Star has been canceled.